The invention relates to a refrigeration system comprising a refrigerant circuit, in which a main mass flow of a refrigerant—preferably carbon dioxide—is guided, a heat exchanger arranged in the refrigerant circuit on the high pressure side, an expansion cooling device which is arranged in the refrigerant circuit, cools the main mass flow of the refrigerant in the active state and thereby generates an additional mass flow of gaseous refrigerant, a reservoir for liquefied refrigerant arranged in the refrigerant circuit, at least one expansion unit for liquefied refrigerant of the main mass flow, this expansion unit being arranged in the refrigerant circuit and having an expansion element and a post-connected heat exchanger on the low pressure side which makes refrigerating capacity available, i.e., increases the enthalpy of the refrigerant, and at least one refrigerant compressor which is arranged in the refrigerant circuit and has a main compressor stage and at least one additional compressor stage driven together with the main compressor stage, these two stages compressing refrigerant to high pressure, wherein the main compressor stage and the at least one additional compressor stage can be used such that either the main compressor stage compresses refrigerant from the main mass flow and the additional compressor stage refrigerant from the additional mass flow or the main compressor stage and the additional compressor stage compress refrigerant from the main mass flow.
Refrigeration systems of this type are known from the state of the art, wherein they are designed for customary refrigerants.
Refrigeration systems of this type are described, for example, in EP 0 180 904 A2.
Proceeding from this known state of the art, the object underlying the invention is to create a refrigeration system which may be adapted to different operating conditions in an optimum manner.